High school boys basketball: University improves to 9-0 in PAC with victory over North (with video)

University's Curtis Black knew he had to step up to fill in for starting point guard De'Andre Austin, who was sidelined with mononucleosis for a third straight game.

He didn't disappoint.

Black finished with a team-high 22 points, including 11 of 12 from the free-throw line, to ignite the Preppers in a 70-62 victory on the road against North. With the win, the Preppers improved to 9-3 overall and 9-0 in the league. They are the only remaining undefeated team in the PAC. The Rangers slipped to 7-5 and 7-2. Both of their league losses are to the Preppers.

"We are asking Curtis to play a lot of minutes, and he's producing for us," University coach Terry Lipford said. "The kid has a huge heart. He gives 110 percent every time he's out on the floor and you just love to coach a kid like that."

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The Rangers started strong with a 19-9 lead, led by Anton Vrebac, who had 12 points. The Preppers responded with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 20-18 at the end of the first quarter. Sam Bentz hit a 3 during the spurt, and James Johnston made back-to-back field goals.

The lead proved to be the Rangers' last.

The Preppers opened the second quarter with an 11-0 run for a 29-20 advantage with 4:57 left in the first half. Matt Gibbons had two layins and a 3-pointer to spark his team.

The Rangers, the defending PAC champions, battled back and cut the lead to 35-33 on a 3-pointer by Paul Lang, but they still trailed, 37-33, at halftime.

"I don't think we executed very well in the half court and defensively," North coach Joe Montanaro said. "We just had too many breakdowns and gave them too many open looks, especially in the first half, when we were up, 19-9."

In the third quarter, the Rangers went on an 8-0 run to cut the Preppers' lead to 46-45. Anton Vrebac had two layups during the spurt including one after a steal. Lang also had a driving layup and hit a 3 to even the score at 48 with 1:26 left in the third.

In the fourth, the Rangers were charged with two technical fouls. One was on Montanaro, and the other was on his assistant. The Preppers shot just 2 of 7 from the field, but they went 16 of 22 from the line to clinch the win. Black and Gibbons were both 7 of 8 from the line.

"I think our guys really showed poise tonight," Lipford said. "The game was back and forth. We fell behind a little bit early and it was highly contested the whole way. I thought we did a pretty good job of handling the basketball and making plays when we needed to make plays in the end. We were able to knock down some free throws."

Along with Black, the Preppers were led by Gibbons who totaled 18 points. Johnston contributed 10. Vreback had a game-high 25 points and Lang added 24.

"We underachieved last year when we tied for fourth in the PAC, after being the champions the previous two years," Gibbons said. "So it feels great to get a win here tonight."